


Feast

by fawatson



Series: ITOWverse:  Autumn Holidays 2010 [21]
Category: RENAULT Mary - Works
Genre: American Thanksgiving, Gen, ITOWverse, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-26
Updated: 2010-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-27 15:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6290290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fawatson/pseuds/fawatson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A grand time was had by all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feast

**Author's Note:**

> The various usernames that appear in the story belong to members of the [maryrenaultfics](http://maryrenaultfics.livejournal.com) LiveJournal community who RSVPed to say that they would come to Thanksgiving dinner, and were therefore written into the story. In particular, My_Cnnr was (at the time the story was written) a co-moderator of the community.

It was very late and the feast was nearly over before My_Cnnr finally arrived. 

“I thought you might not make it,” commented the Secretary, after they had hugged their greeting. 

“Sorry,” My_Cnnr apologised.  “Real Life again.  You know how it is,” she explained. 

“How it was—yes.” 

“Were many able to come?” asked My_Cnnr, looking round the great hall at the remains of the feast.  Clusters of drunken Macedonians snored against the corners of the room.  On the enormous banqueting table rested remnants of the splendid meal.  There was something though ... something rather ... yes....

“Are they...?” 

“Yes.” 

“What on earth!?” 

“Are you hungry?”

“No, I ate earlier,” **my_cnnr** replied. 

“Then come into the reading room; and I’ll tell you all about it.” 

The Secretary plucked at My_Cnnr’s sleeve gently and led her out of the great hall and across the corridor to the quiet study beyond, where the two friends curled into an overstuffed sofa, after fortifying themselves with goblets of red wine. 

“So who came?” 

“Not everyone, of course.  We had apologies from Essayel who was busy with NaNoWriMo; and Realpestilence sent her regrets.  There were a few others like Greenlady2 who came just in the afternoon and couldn’t stay long because they had full days.”

My_Cnnr nodded.  “Yes, I know Addie71 was very busy and wasn’t sure she could come.” 

“And Vaysh11’s invitation seems to have gone a bit astray, though she did check in briefly.”

“But what about the rest?  And _what_ about those—those—?” 

The Secretary shook her head, but her smile was broad, and she chuckled.  “No, no.  I must tell it in order.  You won’t get me to jump to the end of the story, without telling the beginning.” 

And so she spoke of the start of the day and the good Reverend’s service.

“A church in these grounds!” exclaimed My_Cnnr.  “With all the Ancients about?  What will they make of it!” 

“Well they didn’t come to the service, of course,” said the Secretary, “and I rather suspect the church won’t stay long.  After that, we had a nice little book discussion in the church hall.”

“Without me.”  My_Cnnr sounded slightly miffed to have missed out. 

“Nikhos brought her favourites, so True River gathered the group of characters together.  No sooner did they realise _The Charioteer_ was the topic of discussion than Inabathrobe, Thecatsamuel and Emily_Shore arrived, and the next thing we knew we had Leolane and Alexandria_47 there too.  Even Jgraeme2007 dropped in.” 

“I might have known Alexandria_47 wouldn’t stay away; but we haven’t seen Jgraeme2007 in a while,” commented My_Cnnr. 

“Well, you know how fond he is of _The Charioteer_.” 

My_Cnnr nodded.  “But you still haven’t explained—”

“Patience, my friend; I’ll get to it, never fear.  But this was only early afternoon; and there was a lot to get through before ... _that_.” 

There was a short pause while both women refilled their glasses, before the Secretary resumed her tale. 

“Next, Arete ordered all the men to leave.” 

“Arete!” protested My_Cnnr.  “But she’s such a gentle person!”

“Nevertheless,” the Secretary went on, “all the men were sent off; and only the women were allowed to remain; and we all trooped into the bathhouse for a good hot steam and long soak.  Olympias said it was for purification; but it seemed to me they enjoyed it far too much to simply be a matter of cleanliness!  That whiled away a few hours; and after that we went back out to the grounds and made wigwams out of branches and leaves.”

_“Wigwams?”_

“Well, maybe not wigwams, exactly,” the Secretary conceded, “but some sort of Ancient Greek counterpart.  They explained it to me as we did it.  Apparently it’s a sort of women’s festival that honoured the harvest.  Though we only did the first day, which is just as well.”  She shuddered.  “Apparently at the end of the third day they kill pigs and bury them in pits.” 

My_Cnnr shuddered too. 

“Anyway, that took up much of the afternoon.  We finished when Lignota arrived with a few new icons for Simonides; and by early evening they were getting ready for the banquet.” 

“ _Finally_ we come to it!” exclaimed My_Cnnr. 

“It seems Simonides did some research on the internet; and he came up with the story of the first Thanksgiving.  But he didn’t realise that wasn’t Thanksgiving _today_.  Quite why they thought those costumes were required I don’t know.  I didn’t really like to ask.  They were just so _pleased_ with themselves.”

“But where did they _find_ them?” My_Cnnr asked.

“They put the actors to work on it:  twenty pilgrim hats.  And then Alexander ordered his Bodyguard to wear them.  You just saw the remnants of it.  There were twenty feathered headdresses too, though they were more fragile and didn’t really survive very long.  But ... picture Perdikkas in a feathered headdress!”

Both women dissolved into laughter. 

“The funniest thing was seeing Toujours_Nigel and Innervoice_Chan try to keep straight faces.  This might have been their _first_ Thanksgiving celebration; but, even so, they both knew enough to understand it isn’t a costume party.” 

The two giggled together some more, before My_Cnnr asked, “And the food?” 

“Well, the housekeepers saw to that,” explained the Secretary.  “Turkey with all the trimmings, including squash—though they insisted on serving brussel sprouts as well.  Fortunately Pernishus and Greer Watson brought some pumpkin pies because the characters made a real mess of theirs.  I guess they didn’t have pumpkin pie in wartime Britain; they put top crusts on them!” 

“And how are _you_ after all this?” asked My_Cnnr.  “You seemed a little blue before.”

“I _was_ missing home, a bit,” the Secretary admitted.  “Well, missing my friends and family.  Thanksgiving _is_ a time for family, after all. But then ... _you_ all are my family too.”


End file.
